Manchester United may have sold solution to current problem, former teammate suggests

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Former Manchester United academy player Demetri Mitchell has made a surprising admission about former Red Devils goalkeeper Dean Henderson

The English goalkeeper had a rather mixed time at Old Trafford as he always struggled to dethrone former Manchester United number one David De Gea.

Dean Henderson did have a period in the first team back in the spring of 2021 when he started behind Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire and seemed solid.

The goalkeeper left the club and joined Crystal Palace but has struggled in South London as Sam Johnstone seemingly remains Roy Hodgson’s first choice in goal.

Ex-United player makes Henderson admission

Demetri Mitchell, who was a former United academy graduate, has made a rather surprising statement that involves Henderson amidst Andre Onana’s poor form.

Writing on X, Mitchell said: “Unpopular opinion: Dean Henderson was good enough”.

This isn’t the first time that the left-back, now at Exeter City has sung the praises of the English goalkeeper.

Mitchell, when asked to name the best team of players he played with during his academy days, named Henderson as the best keeper he had played with.

Henderson made 29 first-team appearances for the Red Devils and also made a single appearance for the English national team.

The Englishman suffered his fair share of injury problems and was out of United’s pre-season tour due to injury.

The Englishman made his return to Old Trafford last week but suffered an injury barely 10 minutes into his debut for Palace.

Is Mitchell right

Henderson may argue he never really got a firm opportunity at United during his time at the club. After two successful loan spells with Shrewsbury Town and Sheffield United, and a contract extension seemed to signal the Red Devils’ intent with the goalkeeper.

However, Henderson suffered a tough bout of Covid which led to De Gea being reinstated as the first-team goalkeeper and that remained the case until last season.

Now, Onana seems to be the first choice of Erik ten Hag but Mitchell may well be wide of the mark with this comment.

It is clear Onana is in a bad vein of form but Henderson, despite performing well for a brief stint under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, never really proved himself in the games he played.

United need to stick by Onana because a goalkeeper who was man of the match in a Champions League final doesn’t become bad overnight.